Heading to Graduate or Professional School

Prof. Eric Steinhart (C) 1999

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Here are some things to consider as you prepare for post-graduate work

1. Do as well as you can here at WPU.

Work hard. Strive for good grades overall. Try to cultivate relations with us, your philosophy profs. Stay in touch, since you may only decide to go to grad school several years after leaving WPU. Get letters of recommendation before you leave WPU.

2. Develop a portfolio with some good work.

You should have some papers that reflect hard work on a theme or idea that you find deeply interesting. The papers should be of very high quality: well-organized with a clear thesis; well-researched; well-written; sufficiently long (10-20 pages double spaced) to indicate your skills. You should have several of us read these papers and give you feedback.

3. Research graduate schools.

Look up philosophy graduate programs on the web, in books like the Lingua Franca Real Guide, and the APA Guide to Graduate Programs. Write to the school for its information and application kit.

Consider these factors:

• will they give you a stipend?
• will you get some teaching opportunities?
• is the program focused on your areas of interest?
• are there professors there that you'd like to work with closely?
• what are the program requirements?
• what is the style of the program (is it regimented or free-style?)
• does the program have a successful track record of placing its graduates in jobs?

Visit the school if you can. Talk to the professors, but also to the graduate students. Find out what they think are the advantages and disadvantages of the school. Especially: are students able to form close and effective relationships with faculty, especially their dissertation committees?

4. Take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE)

Prepare for it! Get practice books or get tutoring.

5. Apply to Graduate Schools.

This hard work. You need to get application kits. Typically, to apply you need

• to fill out some personal data forms,
• to make a personal statement about your interests and goals,
• to have three letters from your undergrad professors,
• to have official copies of your transcript sent to the school, and
• to have a writing sample of 10 to 20 pages, and to send in an application fee.

It's wise to apply to several programs, especially if the ones you're applying to are competitive.

William Paterson University Philosophy Department